Real Madrid 0 - Athletic Bilbao 2

Madrid: Casillas; Michel Salgado, Samuel, Iván Helguera, Raúl Bravo (Zidane 67'); Beckham, Gravesen; Figo (Raúl 67'), Guti, Solari; Owen (Ronaldo 67'). 4-2-3-1.
Athletic: Aranzubia; Murillo, Luis Prieto, Gurpegui, Del Horno; Iraola (Solabarrieta 81'), Orbaiz, Tiko (Lacruz 71'),Yeste (Casas 88'); Etxeberría, Ezquerro. 4-4-2.

Team changes: Madrid: Raúl Bravo, Figo, Solari, Owen for Roberto Carlos, Raúl, Zidane, Ronaldo / Athletic: Orbaiz, Etxeberría for Arriaga, Urzaiz.

Goals:
0-1. 57. Del Horno. Ran in to head Orbaiz's cross wide of Casillas.
0-2. 72. Iraola. Controlled pass from Ezquerro and shot wide of keeper.

Real Madrid's run of seven wins in a row under new manager Vanderlei Luxemburgo came to an end when they were beaten 0-2 by Athletic Bilbao. The week before the match had been agitated to say the least, with Ronaldo dragging half the squad to France for his wedding on Monday and returning with a foot injury picked up during the celebrations. The Brazilian striker was also given a ticking off by his boss for turning up late for training, and with a vital Champions' League match coming up on Tuesday against Juventus, he was left on the bench together with Raúl and Zidane. Roberto Carlos was also missing due to suspension, and Beckham played although his mind was on either things, his wife giving birth to their third child this weekend.

Whatever the reasons Madrid got off to a bad start against a side who had not lost for nine league games, and only a mistake by referee Moreno Delgado and his linesman let them off the hook when Orbaiz crashed in a shot from almost 40 yards which bounced down off the crossbar and away. Moreno waved away Athletic's claims for a goal, although television pictures showed the ball was clearly over the line as it came down off the bar.

Luxemburgo had given the front two spots to Michael Owen and Guti, but it is some time since the midfielder played up front and he sent a shot way over the bar after Owen set him up. Aranzubia did well to keep out an effort from Solari, but otherwise Madrid did not cause too many problems for the keeper, and Yeste and Iraola tested Casillas a couple of times at the other end either side of half time.

With the game approaching the hour mark Bilbao got the goal they deserved, Orbaiz finding Del Horno with a long cross for him to head past Casillas. The left back has scored five of his thirteen league goals against Madrid, and has been touted as a possible replacement for Roberto Carlos if he goes in the summer.

Just a few minutes later the local coach made a triple change, bringing on his three rested stars just a few seconds after Florentino Pérez made a brief and serious phone call from the directors' box (coincidence?). Even so Etxeberría could have scored before Iraola got the second for the visitors, collecting a pass in from Ezquerro and stepping back to watch Solari go flying by before calmly placing a shot wide of Casillas.

Ronaldo and Zidane did have a couple of shots later on, but by then many of the crowd were on their way out. After their good run the fans didn't give the players too hard a time at the end, but the defeat came at a bad time with Tuesday's big came coming up. And with Barcelona winning, "Los Galacticos" find themselves once again seven points adrift of the leaders." The Lions" of Bilbao had given them a good mauling, and the Basque side move back up to within three points of the UEFA spots as a result.